


First Steps on a Journey

by Green



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Animal Death, Child Stiles Stilinski, Female Stiles Stilinski, Gen, Pre-Canon, Spark Stiles Stilinski
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-15
Updated: 2021-03-15
Packaged: 2021-03-23 17:01:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,463
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30058686
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Green/pseuds/Green
Summary: Stiles meets Deucalion for the first time.
Relationships: Deucalion & Stiles Stilinski
Comments: 53
Kudos: 210





	First Steps on a Journey

**Author's Note:**

> I blame Twist.

"Dad, I need to go to the Animal Clinic," Stiles says.

He looks at her with eyes that don't really see. Calls her a name that isn't hers. She does her best not to burst into tears because she's on a mission. 

So Stiles hauls the box in her red wagon. Down her own street, then a left on Nelson, then another left turn on Main Street. It takes her about an hour, but no one is really paying attention. She's supposed to be in school this morning, but no one really cares if she goes or not.

If anyone knows who she is, all she gets is, "That poor girl."

If they don't, they ignore her entirely.

Death leaves a mark, Stiles has decided. And people can see it, and they shy away. Everyone's so afraid of death that they don't even want to interact with the ones left behind. Not really.

Stiles isn't afraid of anything anymore. Not even the boy at the front of the Animal Clinic who tries to tell her she can't go in to see Dr. Deaton.

"Who are you?" Stiles asks him sharply. _Who do you think you are, trying to boss me around?_

His eyebrows go up. "Peter Hale. And who are you?"

She clenches her jaw. Something's bubbling up inside her, something she doesn't recognize. Is it rage? Fear?

"Well?" Peter asks.

Stiles's mother always told her that names have power. She's not giving hers out to just anyone. "None of your business. I'm here to see Dr. Deaton, so get out of my way."

Peter smirks. "Fiesty little thing, aren't you? But my sister's having a special consultation with Deaton right now, and can't be disturbed."

Stiles rips off the duct tape securing the box to her wagon. Hoists it up. "I'll wait in the waiting room, because that's what it's _for_."

Peter looks conflicted. His nostrils flare and he makes a confused face. 

Stiles has very little patience left in her after dealing with her father for the past week since the funeral. The control over her anger starts to slip as she glares daggers at the boy.

He relents. "Fine. Just stay in the waiting room, okay?"

"What, you're not going to guard me to make sure?" Stiles snarks.

"I was told to stay at the door, not the waiting room," Peter says.

"Fair," Stiles decides, then glares at him again until he holds the door open for her. She carries the heavy box inside and then plops down in the waiting area.

She's never seen the clinic so empty. There's not even a receptionist.

She sits still for _maybe_ two minutes before her curiosity gets the better of her and she goes to peek in on what was so damn important for Dr. Deaton and Peter's sister. What kind of pet requires a 'special consultation' where other patients aren't allowed to wait or even come in the door? Are they hiding an exotic or dangerous animal? Maybe even an illegal one?

Stiles bites her lip, thinking. She really wants to see.

She feels something push against her as she tries to get into the back. She frowns and pushes back, and then she can go on. What the heck was that?

She peeks around a corner and doesn't see anyone. She strains to hear and there, there are voices coming from the way back, where Dr. Deaton keeps the animals who are sick and need to stay overnight. 

Stiles tiptoes down the hall, knowing she shouldn't, and yet too curious not to. 

(She's been told her impulsiveness is because of her ADHD, but while her meds help her concentrate, they really don't help the impulses.)

There are several people crowded around an exam table. Stiles needs to see what kind of animal causes so much concern.

Then someone roars — actually _roars_ — "Get out!" and Stiles quickly slides behind a barrel of kibble to hide.

People walk past swiftly, not noticing her. She puts a hand over her heart, which is beating even faster, so fast she's sure someone could hear it if they tried. She tells it to beat quieter.

The next time Stiles peeks into the room, there are two people left. Neither of them is Dr. Deaton. One of them has really nasty-looking eyes and has obviously been blinded. The other looks on with anger.

Stiles is about to turn around and go back — there are no exotic animals here, and she has her own mission to accomplish — when the fight starts.

The angry man attacks the blind man, yelling something Stiles doesn't understand.

But somehow, the blind man—

He kills the angry man and Stiles covers her mouth so she doesn't whimper or gasp.

Part of her is glad the blind man is okay. Well, for a certain definition of okay. He's not dead or mortally injured, at least.

The other man, the one who attacked him, lies on the floor, eyes open in a death-stare. Stiles knows that stare. She looks at the blind man and knows people will shy away from him now. That he is marked with death.

The blind man cries out and kneels, and then he snaps his head up to look at her with blazing red eyes.

At first, Stiles can only stare. Then she looks back down at the dead body. "Self-defense."

It's like she can hear her mother whispering in her ear, now, telling her to be careful, but that she can do anything. That voice also tells her the blind man is special, and that Stiles can help him.

_Help how?_ she wants to ask.

But then the blind man speaks to her. "How did you get past Deaton's wards?" His accent is distracting. Stiles has a million questions.

"Is that the thing that tried to push me out when I came back here?" she asks first. 

"Yes. How did you get past it?"

Stiles shrugs. She doesn't know if the blind man can see her or not. He was blind one moment, then looked straight at her the next. "I don't know. I pushed back, I guess."

"Why is your heart so quiet?"

Stiles puts her hand on her chest. "Told it to be."

The blind man laughs. "What's your name, little Spark?"

She sucks in a breath. Only her mother ever called her that. Maybe that's worth a name. A nickname, but a name. "Stiles."

"I'm Deucalion. I'm so sorry we had to meet under these circumstances."

Stiles walks around the body to get closer to him, only giving it a cursory glance. "Did you know him?"

Deucalion looks sad and angry at the same time. "I thought I did."

She wants to hug him, but he's a stranger and she knows that's not appropriate. She reaches out, instead. He stiffens but allows her to put her much smaller hand within his.

"How old are you, Stiles?" he asks her.

"Eleven next week," she says.

"If you disappeared, I suppose you'd have people who would miss you," he mused.

A shiver shot up her back to make the hairs on the back of her neck stand straight. "My father's running for sheriff." 

Deucalion hums. "I won't steal you away just yet, then. I will send someone to help you train your magic, though."

Stiles isn't sure what to do with either of those pronouncements. 

Then Deucalion smiles. "You'll be magnificent one day, girl."

At that moment, Stiles believes him.

Dr. Deaton arrives then. He looks at the room in shock. 

Stiles says, "I brought Cadmus, but I left him in the waiting room."

Dr. Deaton looks at Deucalion. "I think it best you leave, now."

Deucalion nods, then kisses Stiles's hand like an old-fashioned gentleman. "I'll be back. Remember that." Then he leaves.

Dr. Deaton looks at the dead body on the floor. "Did you see what happened, Miss Stilinski?"

Feeling suddenly protective, Stiles nods. "It was self-defense."

Dr. Deaton looks at her oddly. "Are you all right?"

Stiles shrugs. "I mean, I was never in danger." She knows that bone-deep.

"Let's go see what's wrong with your boa, then," Dr. Deaton says, guiding her out of the room. "I hope you know not to say a word about what you saw here today."

Something tells her she'd better not even suggest she would blab. "You got it, Doc."

"Very good," Dr. Deaton says.

Cadmus is beyond hope, unfortunately, but what's a little more death in her life?

But the next week, for the birthday everyone else forgets, she finds a wrapped package on her bed when she gets home from school. Inside is an old book with a barely-legible script on its pages. 

The attached note reads: _To start you on your journey to magnificence._

**Author's Note:**

> I might write more, but for right now, this story is complete.


End file.
